One Bird
by Timcampy-chan
Summary: [anime and movie spoilers, rated for death] A magician has many tricks up his sleeve, but he's still a human. Sacrifices must be made...and sometimes you can only save one bird. Oneshot.


**Anime and movie spoilers!**

I really should have written this sooner---the idea popped into my head months ago. -sweatdrop- And this is in first-person, Ed's perspective. _Italics are for flashbacks_!

I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist!

And without further ado, here's my fic!

* * *

Once, when I was a child, a magician came to town to perform.

I expected to see wonderful things. I was sure I was going to see huge-scale alchemy like I had read about, the stuff of dreams tucked away like hidden treasures among the sea of words in my father's books.

But...

I didn't get anything like that. Nothing.

That day helped set in stone that policy that I built my entire life around:

Equivalent Exchange.

----

_"Mom, this is going to be so cool! I wonder what he's going to do?" squeaked the 6-year-old boy, bouncing up and down in the folding chair he was seated in. His younger brother, seated by his side, was mimicking his actions._

_Their mother shook her head, her dark brown tresses swaying slightly in the summer breeze. "Now, now, boys." she lightly scolded, still smiling at their antics. "Please behave."_

_"Y-yes, Mom," said the two in unison. Their small bodies tensed up as they sat up straight and stared directly ahead at the small podium set up in the shade of a large tree. A minute passed and the two dissolved into laughter._

_"Haha, Ed, I can't sit still for so long! I'm so excited!" declared the boy with hair the color of his mother's, grinning ear to ear at his brother._

_The elder nodded, golden eyes almost shining in anticipation. "Me too, Al. Do you think that he'll do something really really big, like...like...umm...transmuting a mountain! Yeah!"_

_"Wow! Do you think he'll really do that?" demanded the younger, his eyes fixed on the identical ones his brother had._

_"I hope so!"_

_"Children, he's already here," calmly stated their mother. The two brothers spun back around and sat properly as the magician introduced himself and began the show._

_----_

I enjoyed the show in the beginning as he did simple things, but as time went on, I became suspicious. Even at such a tender age I had read many of the volumes in my father's library, as did my brother, and everything that man was doing conflicted with what they said more and more.

And, finally...

----

_The tall man bowed to his audience with a flourish and stood up straight again in a flash. "And for this next trick, I'll need the help of my lovely assistant Robyn once again. Miss Robyn?" Beaming, he turned to the woman at his left, who held a small bird's cage in her fair, slender hands._

_"I don't really like this guy," muttered the golden-haired child. "What about you, Al?"_

_"Yeah..." The younger boy rubbed his chin. "Something about him isn't right if he's breaking so many rules."_

_"What if he's not for real?" suggested Edward. "Maybe--"_

_SLAM!_

_The birdcage had been collapsed flat on the table, under a lovely blood-red cloth. The two boys whipped their heads around at the sharp noise as their mother gasped, eyes wide and a hand over her mouth in shock._

_"Y-you killed the bird!!" cried Alphonse, gazing incredulously at the scene._

_"No, my boy..." He neatly clicked the birdcage back into its original shape and lifted the cloth. "It's right here!"_

_"But it can't be! How?" retorted Edward. _

_"That's why it's called magic, son," he replied, smirking and bowing as the rest of the audience applauded. "The same bird's right here, alive and well."_

_"But...that must be another bird," the brown-haired boy suggested weakly. "There's no way you smashed it like that and it survived..."_

_The magician sighed, and smiled sadly at the two children. "Ma'am, your children are bright. They're going to go places...I know it."_

----

I knew. Alphonse knew. When he did that magic trick there were two birds, but only one made it to the end of the show. It was a life for a life, in a way. You can only save one bird. They could be just like their fellow, but you could only keep one. Only one gets lucky and lives for a little while longer before they face the fate of others before them.

Finally, it all comes up to this moment. As my brother and I, years later and an entire world away from that small town where that magician performed, stand here before a grave, with white flowers held in our arms and black clothes on our backs...

I remember that day, so long ago.

Alfonse...

I guess you were the unlucky bird this time.

* * *

Thank you for reading, and please review! 


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